SHA'AGAT ARYEH HA-SHEYNIT

BS"D

ח אַרְיֵה שָׁאָג, מִי לֹא יִירָא; אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה דִּבֶּר, מִי לֹא יִנָּבֵא.
Aryeh sha'ag, mi lo yirah; Ad@nai Y-H-V-H diber, mi lo yinavey
"The lion has roared, who will not fear? The L@rd G@D has spoken, who can but prophesy?"
Amos 3:8

R' Nechemiyah used to say, "They who converted to Judaism because of lions...are not deemed proselytes unless they are ready to be converted again..."
This great sage is referring to the Samaritans, who became Jewish after being visited by lions, because their coming was a manifestation of Divine Wrath. But only love of Torah can move people to truly become Jews.

כד וַיָּבֵא מֶלֶךְ-אַשּׁוּר מִבָּבֶל וּמִכּוּתָה וּמֵעַוָּא וּמֵחֲמָת, וּסְפַרְוַיִם, וַיֹּשֶׁב בְּעָרֵי שֹׁמְרוֹן, תַּחַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל; וַיִּרְשׁוּ, אֶת-שֹׁמְרוֹן, וַיֵּשְׁבוּ, בְּעָרֶיהָ. 24
"& the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, & from Kuthah, & from Avva, & from Chamath & Sefarva'im, & put them in the cities of Samaria (Shomron) instead of the children of Israel; & they possessed Samaria, & lived in its cities."

כה וַיְהִי, בִּתְחִלַּת שִׁבְתָּם שָׁם, לֹא יָרְאוּ, אֶת-יְהוָה; וַיְשַׁלַּח יְהוָה בָּהֶם אֶת-הָאֲרָיוֹת, וַיִּהְיוּ הֹרְגִים בָּהֶם. 25
"& so it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the L@RD; therefore the L@RD sent lions among them, which killed some of them."

כו וַיֹּאמְרוּ, לְמֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר לֵאמֹר, הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר הִגְלִיתָ וַתּוֹשֶׁב בְּעָרֵי שֹׁמְרוֹן, לֹא יָדְעוּ, אֶת-מִשְׁפַּט אֱלֹהֵי הָאָרֶץ; וַיְשַׁלַּח-בָּם אֶת-הָאֲרָיוֹת, וְהִנָּם מְמִיתִים אוֹתָם, כַּאֲשֶׁר אֵינָם יֹדְעִים, אֶת-מִשְׁפַּט אֱלֹהֵי הָאָרֶץ. 26
"So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying: 'The nations (Israel) which you have carried away, and placed in the cities of Samaria, don't know the manner of the G@d of the land; so He has sent lions among them, & look, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the G@d of the land.'
2 Kings/Melekhim 17:24-26

The Hebrew word for lion is אריה aryeh. Spelled Alef, Reysh, Yud, Hey.
This is an acronym.

The letter Alef stands for the month of אלול Elul, which begins with Alef. The Reysh represents ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, Yud stands for יום כפור Yom Kippur, & the Hey represents הושנה רבה Hoshanah Rabah.

This is the time of Divine judgment, the Yamim Nora'im, days of awe. If we allow ourselves to hear the roar, G@d will wake us up to repentance so we can prepare to gently turn what is ready to be moved. In this way we inspire the Holy One to transform Divine judgement to Divine compassion.

I'm off to the miqveh now, for the annual pre-Yom Kipur women's gathering. Many blessings to you for an easy transformation.




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